


10,000 Years of Calamity's Song

by Vanitas_Repliku_26



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Evolved monsters, F/M, Flying Cars, Futuristic Zelda, Goron Sign Language, I'm making this up as I go, Lots of OCs - Freeform, M/M, Merge all the timelines, Museums, Politics, Post-Apocalypse, Post-apocalyptic BotW AU, Religion, Sheik is Zelda's cousin, Sheik is a Separate Character, Slaps hood of fic, Talking monsters, This baby can fit so many timelines, Tongueless Goron, Zelda timelines, botw au, holograms, prepare for a wild ride, sheikah technology, sorry I'm bad at tagging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2020-10-01 19:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20380453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanitas_Repliku_26/pseuds/Vanitas_Repliku_26
Summary: Unearthed beneath an ancient castle, a giant crystal containing a male with a sword embedded in his chest is sent to the Natural History Museum of Hyrule. The lead historian of Hylian and Gerudo culture Zelda Nayrin is immensely fascinated by the new exhibit as the man is surely of pure Gerudo blood.How did he even get into the crystal in the first place? And what was the purpose of the sword?After accidentally breaking the crystal, Zelda discovers that the man is somehow still alive but only speaks an ancient Gerudo language lost to time. To protect him, Zelda hides him but they soon have to flee from the government who wants the Gerudo for their own nefarious purposes. Joined by her cousin and a wild Wastelander, the four travel outside the city limits and begin a journey to discover who exactly the man is and how he came to be stuck in the crystal.It becomes even more complicated when a new evil arises and magic long thought dead and extinct begins to awaken.I do not give my permission for this fic to be posted on Fanfic Pocket Library (Unofficial) or any other similar app.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bloodsexsugarmagick](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodsexsugarmagick/gifts), [Satirise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Satirise/gifts).

> I hope you guys enjoy this because it's gonna be pretty long. This is super post-BotW. *cough10,000yearscough*  
Anyway! Have fun!

Underground had always been home to his people. The smell of the sweet earth, the soft dirt shifting through their claws. Mogma belonged underground. But times changed and so, too, did the Mogma. Now they lived among the surface dwellers in their glittering city of skyscrapers and flying vehicles. They walked upright and spoke common Hylian tongue.

Digger didn’t mind, really. He and his pack worked construction with the voiceless Goron, digging holes for the metal structure supports or tunnels for new sewage lines. That’s what they were currently doing, burrowing a shaft for another sewage and garbage line to spill out into the wastes outside the city’s giant walls.

“How much further till we reach the end?” Cobalt complained as he paused in his digging to look at Digger. “Shouldn’t we have reached the end by now?”

It was highly unusual to be digging this long. Normally the four of them could finish a four mile tunnel in under an hour, but it had already been past that.

“Just keep digging. Remember, the boss told us that they want the line to split into three. That way no back-ups can happen.”

Cobalt grumbled at Digger’s explanation and resumed digging.

Satisfied as the other two Mogma continued digging as well, Digger ran his claws through the spiked green fur on his head before he continued digging.

His claws struck something and he made a growl, hitting the area before him again.

Rock? No, it didn’t look natural. The stones were too square. Laid together perfectly. A wall. But it wasn’t the city’s wall. The stone was different.

Intrigued, Digger struck the wall again and again, his claws beginning to crumble the stone.

The rocks fell away, crumbling to the ground and revealing a large chamber spread out before him. Stale air rushed into his face.

Digger gaped in awe, stepping through the hole he had made.

“What’d you find?” Onyx asked, stepping up behind Digger with Cobalt and Lapis.

“A secret,” Lapis hissed excitedly, eyes lit up as her tail waved. “An unexplored cavern!”

“Beneath the city?” Cobalt asked skeptically, crossing his arms as he flicked the dark fur hanging in his right eye out of his face.

“Hey, where else do you think we’re finding the artifacts for the museum?”

Cobalt pinned his ears back at the retort from Lapis, nose twitching in annoyance.

“Let’s check it out,” Digger murmured faintly, beginning to walk forward.

The other three Mogma trailed after him, gazing around at the structure they stood in.

The floor was worn and cracked, made of the same material as the walls.

Digger could see faded rugs and markings beneath the layer of dirt.

_This is no ordinary cavern, _he thought as he glanced up, spotting pillars that were half destroyed or barely supporting themselves. _No cave has stuff like this. A building of some sort?_

“You think this is an old building from some other era?” Onyx asked. “Looks fancy.”

“Could be a castle,” Lapis suggested. “The markings sort of suggest royalty.”

“This place is practically preserved,” Digger murmured. “No exposure to the air or elements….there has to be archeological artifacts just waiting to be found!”

“Or treasure,” Cobalt said. “Think about the treasure.”

The four continued to travel, glancing around at the walls of what appeared to be a hallway.

Lapis suddenly sniffed before she dropped down to all fours and scampered off, yelling, “I smell crystal!”

“Crystal?” Cobalt asked. “No way! Crystal can’t form down here, the enviornment isn’t right.”

Digger followed after Lapis and came out to another open area, a huge brazier smack in the middle of the area. Lapis was down below where rotten wood posts were and where ancient boats were left to decay.

_A dock, _Digger realized as he slowly approached Lapis who was busy digging at the ground.

After a few seconds her claws struck something and she grinned triumphantly.

Interested, Digger began to help her unearth whatever she had found.

Cobalt and Onyx joined in their efforts and the four managed to uncover a massive chunk of crystal.

“That’s a giant ass crystal,” Onyx breathed as he stared at it in awe.

Lapis leaped onto the top of the crystal, sniffing it, tail thumping against the surface.

“Smells like crystal!” she announced before beginning to use her arms to clean the crystal. “Looks like—ahh!”

Faster than a bolt of lightning, Lapis scrambled off the crystal and hid behind Digger, pointing a shaky claw at the rock.

“F-f-face!”

“Huh?” Onyx asked.

“What’s she going on about?” Cobalt huffed, crossing his arms.

“I saw a face!” Lapis shrieked.

“Are you sure it wasn’t just your reflection?” Digger questioned, turning to pat Lapis’s shoulder in comfort.

“It wasn’t!” Lapis protested. “It was a---well, it wasn’t a Hylian face…but it was there!”

She shoved Digger towards the crystal insistently.

“Go see for yourself!”

Heaving a sigh, Digger jumped onto the crystal and looked back at his pack.

Onyx and Cobalt looked impatient while Lapis flicked her claws at him.

Rolling his eyes, Digger rubbed his hand against the crystal to clean it up again and almost startled when he did, indeed, see a face.

He expected it to be contorted or something equally horrifying but the face appeared peaceful with the eyes closed.

_Strange, _Digger thought as he squinted.

The skin was a dark bronze. The hair appeared almost red. Even through the dirty surface, Digger could see the pointed ears and the two gold piercings in the left ear.

Definitely not Hylian.

Pulling the phone off the belt at his hip, Digger dialed a number.

_Zelda will definitely want to know about this._

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

The voices of the choir resonated against the high ceilings of the temple, their voices in time with the gentle notes of the organ keys being pressed and the harp’s harmonious strings.

“Keep us in the light. Oh, Grace, we pray, you keep us in the light. Don’t let us fall into the shadows.”

Standing among the front rows of the pews was a woman around twenty, long blonde hair done up neatly in a bun. The blonde woman was dressed impeccably with square framed glasses perched on her nose, a crisp black long-sleeved double-breasted jacket over a white dress shirt and a black tulip type skirt reaching down to her knees.

She kept her hands clasped in front of her, voice joining in with the rest of the congregation as they continued to sing the hymn with the choir.

“For monsters lurk there with flesh ripping teeth and magma eyes. Keep us in the light…”

The hymn continued until it faded and once the final note rang out, the churchgoers all sat as the priest approached the podium at the front of the church. The priest was in his middle fifties with receding silver hair and a neatly trimmed moustache. He wore orange robes with intricate red stole and chasuble wrapped around his shoulders, the symbol of the Triforce emblazoned on the front.

“Welcome, brothers and sisters, to another fine Sunday in the year of Our Grace, 9,250 A.C. I’ll be reading a passage from the Gospel of Ashei.”

Opening the tome set on the podium before him, the priest cleared his throat.

“And so, the Goddess’s avatar and the boy with the Hero’s blood slew the great beast with the sacred arrows and the blade that destroys malice. Peace returned to the land with the horrible shadow’s decay. The Twili that had assisted the Hero in his journey returned to her realm, the mirror used as a gateway shattering into a thousand pieces to block their worlds from every colliding again. The Princess became Queen and the Hero reverted back to his simple farm life. His blade returned to the pedestal it had been drawn from, awaiting the next time it would be needed. The word of Her Grace.”

“Thanks be to Hylia.”

“Make the sign of the Triad. In the Power and the Wisdom and the Courage we flourish.”

The congregation touched their foreheads before moving their hands to the right then the left, making the sign of a triangle in time with the priest’s words.

“Together we strand in the light. Divided, we sink into darkness.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Priest Rauru!”

The priest gave a grumble as he straightened, turning to see the blonde woman approaching him. A smile spread across his face. “Ah, good morning, Zelda. Did you enjoy mass today?”

"As usual.” Zelda returned the grin, clasping her hands in front of her. “I was wondering if you would bless me.”

With a rumbling chuckle, Rauru nodded. “Of course, my child. Kneel down.”

Zelda kneeled down and after making the sign of the Triad, Rauru set his hand on Zelda’s head. “Your Grace, I humbly ask you bless this fine young lady here as well as al her endeavors. May she always see your light in everything she does and everyone she touches.”

“Praise be to Hylia,” Zelda murmured as she stood up.

Rauru gave a nod. “Good luck, Zelda. And I’ll see you next week, hm?"

“You know it.” Zelda grinned as she walked off, leaving the church and going out into the August heat.

Several cars had already left, the far-off humming of hovercars zooming along the air roads reverberating in the distance.

Heading over to a black jeep convertible, Zelda opened the driver door to her Teba Archer, climbing into the seat.

Picking her phone up from the cupholder, Zelda ran her finger across the back of it to open the home screen. Two missed calls and a text from Digger.

“What does he want?” Zelda wondered as she opened her text message.

**Crystal Man.**

Zelda stared at the two words blankly, frowning.

What the heck? That made absolutely no sense. She had gotten cryptic messages from the treasure thirsty Mogma before, but this one was mysterious.

Turning her key to start the car, Zelda typed in an address and punched the thruster button. Lifting off the ground slightly, the vehicle’s wheels tucked underneath the carriage. Pressing the accelerator, Zelda left the church’s parking lot and made her way towards the highway before setting the car to autopilot.

Crystal man? What did that even mean?

Zelda sighed, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel as she waited for the Goron directing traffic to let her go.

Off to the side, construction on a new building was commencing. Probably another high rise.

Mogma scurried along the ground below, digging holes for the metal support beams to be placed. Goron then pounded the support beams deep into the ground by bouncing on the beam’s top, their rocky shells striking against the metal reverberating throughout the city.

The Goron directing the traffic wave his thick arms to allow one side to go before stopping them to allow another side to go. As Zelda watched, she realized the Goron was almost making a rhythm of it, matching the pounding of his brothers backs against the support beams.

She knew Goron used a strange sing language to communicate due to their lack of tongues. Zelda had read why the Goron lost their tongues—supposedly blasphemy of Hylia—but she wasn’t sure if it was true. There were a lot of people who didn’t truly believe in the White Goddess and they still retained their tongues. Why were the Goron singled out?

The Goron were a nice race as Zelda knew from her interactions with them. Many people treated them like dumb animals built only for brute labor, but Zelda made sure to treat them with compassion and respect.

Zelda shook her head as the Goron finally released her side, her car automatically resuming driving.

She was anxious to see exactly what Digger had meant by ‘crystal man’.

Pulling into the underground parking lot to the Natural History Museum of Hyrule, Zelda parked in her reserved spot.

The museum was a grand thing. Three floors and over 300,000 square feet of Hyrule’s history, all the way from the Era of the Sky to the Era of Hyrule, about 3,000 years ago when the city fully began to flourish.

Each floor contained different artifacts from certain races. The first floor contained not only a food court and a gift shop, but the ancient relics of the Rito and Zora. A hologram welcomed any who entered the building. The second floor held Goron, Twili, and Hylian artifacts as well as some information on the mysterious races of the Kikwi, Mogma, and Minish. There wasn’t much artifacts on them. And the third floor contained not only historical archives and a holographic timeline of Hyrule but the history of the Gerudo. Models of the strange mechanical beasts and automatons from the Wild Era dominated the front of the floor.

Zelda was a historian for not only Hylian history, but Gerudo as well. She considered herself an expert in both fields.

Out front in the courtyard, a replica of the famous sword that seals the darkness—the Master Sword—stood in a rock pedestal. Carved into the rock’s face was: **_Whosoever pulls this sword from its rocky sheath will be dubbed the Hero and will rescue the Princess and slay the dreaded beast._**

Zelda chuckled as she saw some children trying to pull the sword out.

“Aw, no fair!” a Rito huffed as they gave up on pulling the sword. “It’s rigged!”

“Maybe you’re just not hero material,” a Zora snorted, crossing their arms with a toothy grin.

The Hylian and Mogma standing nearby laughed as the Rito appeared affronted, feathers fluffing up.

“Well then why don’t you try, huh?!”

The Zora huffed, walking up to the sword. “Fine. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“Are you children having fun?” Zelda asked as she approached the children.

“That sword is hard to pull out!” the Hylian complained, pouting.

Zelda smiled, grabbing the handle of the Master Sword and pulling it.

As she expected, it didn’t budge.

“Perhaps you guys are too young. I imagine the sword is picky about its owner.”

“Don’t you have an older brother, Gold?” the Zora asked, looking at the Mogma.

The Mogma nodded excitedly. “Yeah! I bet he could pull it out!”

Zelda left the kids to their devices, the front doors to the museum sliding open. Heading to the left, Zelda made her way to the employee only door that lead down to the basement, her high heels clicking on the marble floor.

The basement contained a lot of artifacts that would be switched out with old ones to add some new interest in certain areas or artifacts that needed further study or to be repaired.

Moving past the rows of artifacts labeled according to age and race, Zelda entered the restoration room where Digger and his pack were.

The restoration room housed a lot of artifacts, especially old weapons that needed to be polished or remade.

Currently the entire space was occupied by a giant chunk of crystal that had to be at least eight feet tall and five feet wide. Goron had probably been used to bring it in.

It was a huge piece of crystal, Zelda had to admit. But certainly not a crystal man.

Zelda crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at Digger. “Where’s this crystal man you spoke of?”

Digger bounced on his paws excitedly, claws clicking together as he tapped them. “Just clean off some of that crystal and you’ll see!”

Zelda made a noise before she sighed, moving closer to the crystal and using her sleeve to clear off the thin layer of dust coating the surface. She almost screamed when a face suddenly appeared, stepping back quickly.

“Isn’t it cool?!” Digger asked. “A man in a crystal!”

Slowly, Zelda returned to the crystal and stared at the face, scrutinizing it before she gasped. “A pureblood Gerudo male!”

That was fascinating. Gerudo nowadays had lost their giant height, the tallest reaching only six feet. Their hair remained fiery, even if it wasn’t as bright as their ancestor’s used to be, but their skin was pale due to the Hylian genes diluting their blood.

Zelda knew from history books the Gerudo used to have gold eyes, but now their eyes were blue, green, or brown. But this man…

Circling the crystal, Zelda rubbed spots away with her arm so she could see better.

“A male…preserved like a mosquito in amber. How fascinating! He looks pureblood….at least seven feet…young, maybe twenty…how did he even end up like this?”

Was he even still alive? She doubted it.

Zelda looked at Digger. “Where did you even find this?”

“We were digging and came across a huge cavern.”

“A cavern?” Zelda murmured, rubbing her chin before she gasped. “I’ve heard rumors of an abandoned castle beneath the city. That must be it! You found that castle….oh, it has to be at least ten thousand years old…”

Zelda began to pace as she muttered to herself.

“Our monarchy ended around that time…and our city built atop it! There has to be a lot of archeological finds within it!”

“We found this too,” Lapis said, holding up a rectangular item.

Zelda gasped at the sight, snatching it from the Mogma. “Another Sheikah Slate! Oh, this one is preserved extremely well.”

She tapped the dark screen, not all that surprised it didn’t turn on. Dead as the other one.

“This one looks slightly different than the other one….perhaps a prototype!” Zelda set the Sheikah Slate in one of the empty drawers lining the wall. “This is an excellent find! Now we have an idea of what Gerudo looked like…oh, I need to date this…”

“She’s in archaeological mode,” Digger whispered as Zelda flitted around the room searching for tools. “Let’s go.”

The Mogma left Zelda alone as the blonde found a chisel and hammer.

After putting on a pair of gloves to prevent any fingerprints or damage, Zelda knelt by the edge of the crystal to try and chip a small piece off. She hummed when the chisel only shrieked against the crystal.

“A bit tough, huh? Let’s try the diamond-tipped chisel then.”

Taking another chisel to the crystal, the instrument just bounced off the surface.

Zelda put her hands on her hips with a sigh. “Stubborn, eh?”

Glancing at the crystal and the face within it, Zelda smiled.

“I bet you’ll be more compliant once I clean you off. I imagine it isn’t fun being all covered in dirt.” She was going to make the crystal all nice and shiny.

Taking off her jacket and oiling up the sleeves of her undershirt, Zelda dropped her hair down from the bun before putting it up in a ponytail.

First thing to get off was the dirt coat on the crystal’s surface. Filling a bucket with warm water and soap, Zelda dunked a scour brush into the liquid then began to rub the crystal’s service.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zelda hummed as she scrubbed a cloth soaked in ammonia down the crystal’s surface. “Gonna make you all nice and shiny, Mr. Crystal man.”

She smiled at the sight of her own reflection in the crystal’s surface.

“Perfect. You’ll be a good addition to our Gerudo exhibit.”

With the crystal shiny and see through, Zelda could make out more of the man within it.

His red hair reached to his midback. Gold bracelets and anklets adorned his body. A cracked amber set in a diadem was in the center of his forehead. Clothes of what could possibly be silk covered his waist, dropping down to his mid-thigh, and covered the left side of his body while keeping the right side exposed.

Judging by his jewlery and the spiked crown buried in his hair, Zelda had to guess the man was royalty or at the least someone of high importance.

“If only you could tell me what I want to know,” Zelda sighed, crossing her arms. “Especially concerning that sword.”

A black sword was embedded in the Gerudo’s chest, tip poking out his back.

The sword to Zelda appeared to be a mock version of the Master Sword. The guard was upside down as was the Triforce etched into the blade though.

What was the point of stabbing him then putting him into crystal? He must have pissed someone off.

“You’re seriously still down here?” a voice asked as the door opened.

Zelda turned sharply, expecting to see the museum’s director, but instead finding her cousin Sheik standing in the doorway.

Sheik was two years younger than Zelda and acted as one of the many security guards for the museum, wearing the crisp black uniform with the museum’s symbol sewn in the right breast pocket. An Armos 1254 hung from a holster at his waist, the handgun set with the safety on.

Sheik’s blond hair was long, braided to his shoulders. A fringe of hair hung in his left eye, the right eye a typical Sheikah blood red.

Sheik raised an eyebrow at the crystal before he crossed his arms. “You’ve seriously been down here the past eight hours cleaning that hunk of rock?”

“Eight hours?” Zelda asked in surprise.

It hadn’t felt that long to her. Maybe an hour.

Her stomach growled and Zelda laughed, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “No wonder I’m hungry.”

Sighing, Sheik gestured to the door. “Come on. We can get something to eat at Saria’s Diner.”

Zelda perked up, the tips of her ears vibrating. “Are you paying?”

“Perhaps,” Sheik replied cryptically.

Grinning, Zelda shot past Sheik with a yell of, “I’ll meet you there!” over her shoulder.

Sheik shook his head, smiling fondly at his cousin’s behavior. He looked towards the crystal before moving closer, lifting the fringe of hair out of his face.

His left eye was red but the iris was stamped with the Sheikah emblem.

He stared hard at the man in the crystal, pupil expanding with a faint whirr as it scanned. After a few seconds, words appeared in his vision.

**Name: ???**

**Age: ???**

**Blood Type: ????**

**Heart Rate: No reading**

**Respiration: No reading**

Dropping the fringe back down, Sheik narrowed his eye at the crystal man before he turned and left the restoration room, flicking the light off as he went. The door closed with a soft click.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this within a day so forgive me for any errors or such xD  
Whumptober is also going on so I may do that too :3

When the sky was changing color from the deep black of night to the clean pink of morning, Zelda was already awake.

She was an early bird by nature, perky by 5 a.m. and ready to jog. She jogged every day, even on Sundays, for an hour.

Wearing a white tank top and dark blue shorts with her hair done up in a ponytail, Zelda had her phone in her pocket and wireless earbuds in her ears.

It was the same route every day, out of her apartment and down to the lower levels of Hyrule City where Goron carried T-beams for construction and Mogma dug holes. She waved at them and they waved back.

Zelda passed the Gerudo market with their sharp incense burning and the smell of freshly cut palm fruit and volt fruit, their handmade rugs with intricate Gerudo designs hanging up on wires. A few Gerudo were setting up their stalls for the day, humming a Gerudo hymn.

Zelda wound her way up past the Gerudo market and to the trees of the Great Hyrule City Park, a last patch of green inside the metal and glass city. The only beings awake were the squirrels gathering nuts and birds chirping their wake-up songs.

Zelda smiled at the squirrels that bolted when they saw her, not slowing down to admire the park she had always known. The swings and slides looked the same form when she had been a kid. The hologram of a random Hylian warning children not to run or climb on things the wrong way wasn’t turned on.

Hyrule Park fell behind her as Zelda’s feet went from hitting grass to pavement. A few cars drove along the early morning ground streets and in the distance, Zelda could hear the humming thrusters of cars zooming along the air streets. People heading to work.

Standing at a sign that declared **Rito Air Taxi **were several Rito awaiting to be hailed to carry people to their destinations.

“Good morning miss!” a Rito called, raising a wing as Zelda passed.

“Good morning!” Zelda responded, turning to face the Rito and waving. “Have a good day!"

“And you as well, miss!”

Zelda smiled as she continued her jog.

She passed by the Zora fish market, a few Zora up and setting up their stalls for the day. Zelda made a mental note to buy some bass and porgy for dinner once she went home after work.

And then she was back at the doorstep of her apartment, breathing out a sigh as she pulled the earbuds out. It felt good, feeling the heartbeat in her neck and the chilly sweat covering the back of her neck and going down her arms.

“Oh.” Zelda grinned when she saw Mr. Ray, an elderly Zora and the landlord to her apartment. “Good morning, Mr. Ray!”

The blue Zora with the fins and headtail of a manta ray glanced at her with slitted gold eyes before he grouched, “What’s so good about it, huh?”

Mr. Ray continued to grumble as he ambled off.

_One day, I’ll get him to smile, _Zelda thought as she headed up the stairs to her fourth floor apartment, opening the door.

She had been trying to get on Mr. Ray’s good side ever since she had moved in a few years ago. His grouchiness hadn’t yet influenced her attempts at getting Mr. Ray to smile. She was going to keep trying.

Zelda’s apartment wasn’t very big. A one bedroom, one bath with a small kitchenette and a tiny living room. She kept it clean, the bookshelves in the living room full but in alphabetical order.

She had seen Sheik’s apartment once and it was a complete and utter mess. She had tried to clean it up, but he had stopped her, claiming everything was in its place. Zelda decided to leave him be. If he wanted to trip over his stuff, he could do so. A tank sat against a wall next to the TV, a red betta fish with a long flowing tail swimming around anxiously.

Zelda went over to the tank and the fish came over to the glass.

“Good morning, Mipha. You want some breakfast, huh?”

Mipha swam in a circle in response.

“Let me take a shower first, okay?” Zelda patted the glass gently with a finger. “Then we’ll both eat breakfast.”

Zelda had wanted a bird as a pet, but with her long hours at the museum, she would have felt bad for the poor thing being stuck in a cage alone for all those hours. A fish had seemed more suited to her work hours and Mipha never appeared lonely or depressed. Only excited when she returned home.

Mipha appeared to pout at having to wait for her breakfast.

Zelda smiled as she went to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fifteen minutes later and Zelda came out of the bathroom, dressed for work with her hair done up in a bun.

She put her glasses back on her nose after wiping off the moisture that accumulated on the lenses during her shower.

Heading over to the kitchen, Zelda pulled a box of Applean Jacks from the top of the fridge.

After making herself a bowl and getting a glass of orange juice, Zelda shook some fish flakes into Mipha’s tank so they could eat breakfast together.

Zelda turned on the TV, watching the news.

A swell of pride went through her as the news spoke of the crystal man that had been discovered and was supposed to be unveiled that day. It had been a week of cleaning and polishing the crystal to make the mysterious man within it more visible and rearranging the Gerudo exhibit to accommodate the crystal.

Zelda hoped they could have the crystal finished by the time the museum opened. She didn’t want to disappoint anyone by not having it set up when she said it would be ready.

After drinking the sweetened milk from the cereal, Zelda washed her glass and bowl then bid farewell to Mipha.

“No wild parties while I’m gone, young lady,” Zelda said, giving an amused smile as she opened the door.

Mipha appeared to shrug before swimming in a circle.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As always, Zelda arrived at the museum by 7 a.m.

The museum didn’t open for another two hours, but Zelda took the time to restore any artifacts that could be placed in the Hylian or Gerudo artifact halls. After that, she double-checked all the artifacts in the halls as well as the certain holograms that gave information on certain time periods or responded to questions.

Her most prized hologram was Urbosa, the mascot for the Gerudo exhibits as well as a famous chief from the Before Calamity era.

The hologram for the Hylian exhibit was one of the old kings that ruled during the Great Sea era, King Daphnes.

Zelda checked on the Hylian hall first since it was on the second floor. The hall contained all sorts of artifacts, from the drawing of a Gate of Time from the Era of the Sky to the first known cellphone, a few hundred years ago.

“Good morning, Daphnes,” Zelda said as she stopped in front of a model of what Hylians looked like a century ago.

Immediately, Daphnes flickered into existence, hands behind his back. He had a full white beard and wore red, ornate clothes that depicted him as royalty. “Good morning, Zelda.”

“Can you tell me what the Great Sea era was like?”

“Of course. The Great Sea era was the era in which the Goddesses flooded Hyrule to prevent the Demon King from reaching the Triforce after he broke free from his seal in the Sacred Realm.”

“Can you tell me about the Era of Twilight?” Zelda asked, looking at the Manacle of Twilight, a chain that was supposed to have held the Hero of Twilight in his beast form.

“Of course. The Era of Twilight was the era when the Twili Zant overthrew the Hylian monarchy by order of the Demon King who he believed to be a god. The land of Hyrule was submerged into Twilight, turning anyone who touched it into a restless spirit. The Princess of Twilight joined forces with the Hero of Twilight to banish the Twilight and return light to the land of Hyrule.”

Daphnes appeared to be in working order.

“Thank you, Daphnes. You can return now.”

Daphnes gave a slight bow before vanishing.

After looking at the multitude of bones and jewlery and weapons in the hall Zelda moved to the third floor to do the same check.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour before the museum opened, the crystal was moved up to the third floor. To be more physically appealing and able to support itself, the crystal had to be carefully shaped into an isis cut.

The crystal was too large and heavy to be taken up by stair or elevator so several Goron wrapped ropes around it and using rigging were slowly hoisting it up to the third floor.

Zelda watched anxiously as they worked, afraid that the pulley system would fail.

If the crystal hit the ground, it would surely shatter and the specimen inside would be destroyed. But there was nothing to worry about; the Goron hauled the crystal over the railing on the third floor and four of them carried it to the Gerudo exhibit.

After setting it down gently, the crystal was blocked with red velvet rope and a plaque was set out front. There wasn’t much on the plaque since Zelda didn’t know much about the strange crystal man. She knew the crystal dated back to pre-Calamity era but that was about it. Everything else was a mystery.

With the crystal set up, everyone got ready for the museum to open up. Zelda prepared a scavenger hunt for a school group that she had that day. She loved teaching young minds about the history of Hylians and Gerudo.

“I hate school trips,” Sheik mumbled as he leaned against the desk Zelda was working at.

Zelda glanced up at him before resuming her typing. She was making two pages; one for the Hylian exhibit and one for the Gerudo.

“You know, as shocking as it is, you were a kid once.”

“I was born an adult.”

Zelda gave a snorted laugh. “Oh, yeah? I have kid pictures of you all smiling and happy. I think I have one of you with no front teeth.”

Sheik gasped, slamming his hands on the table. “Who gave you those?!”

“Your mom. You were soooo adorable as a baby.”

“I am so going to kill her….”

Zelda chuckled, standing up to pat Sheik on the head. “Don’t worry. The only person I’ll tell you’re actually a sweetheart is your boyfriend or girlfriend.”

Sheik spluttered as he tried to think of a comeback. “Y-yeah, we’ll I’ll te….uh, I’ll tell…”

Who could he tell? Zelda was practically married to her work. She wasn’t interested in dating.

_Crap._

“Better get to work!” Zelda giggled as she headed to the main hall to greet the school group she was giving the tour to.

Sheik grumbled, crossing his arms as he stalked off, mumbling under his breath.

Zelda smiled as a gaggle of children burst into the museum doors followed by a harried Rito.

The children were a mixed group of Rito, Zora, Gerudo, Goron, Mogma, and Hylian. Zelda saw a Minish perched on a Gerudo’s shoulder.

“Good morning, children,” Zelda greeted with a smile. “My name is Zelda. You all happy to visit the museum?”

There was a chorus of “Yes, ma’ams” and Zelda chuckled at their politeness.

“Well, first we’re going to the second floor to visit the Hylian exhibit. I have a fun scavenger hunt too.”

There was an excited _ooh _from the group.

Zelda lead them to the second floor and into the Hylian exhibit. She showed them all the exhibits they had, from the weapons to the jewlery Hylians wore in ancient times to King Daphnes. Afterward, she handed out the scavenger hunt and watched the children scatter to find the items on the list, smiling at the screams of “I found one!”

She had always had a fondness for children. It was part of the reason she wanted to work in a museum. The other being the adventure and mystery of archaeology and the artifacts of ancient times that told the stories of how people lived a long time ago. Her father hadn’t been too happy she wanted to work in a museum rather than take over their family company.

But she didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk all day or in boring meetings. She liked polishing ancient weapons or touching well-preserved dishware other people touched centuries ago. She wanted to learn all there was about her race’s history as well as the history of the Gerudo, a people who once lived in the desert but now lived in a city.

“Miss Zelda?” a Rito tugged her arm and pointed to two artifacts. “Are those real?”

Zelda went over to where the Rito was pointing, seeing the Goddess Harp and the Ocarina of Time. She grinned.

“Do you believe they’re real?”

The Rito nodded eagerly.

“Then they’re real.”

“D-does that mean if I had the Ocarina,” the Rito bounced eagerly, “I can control time?!”

Zelda chuckled. “The Ocarina can do more than just control time.”

“It can?!” a Mogma asked, loping over to see what the commotion was about.

Zelda nodded. “Yes. It’s said that certain notes could control the weather, summon a scarecrow, or even warp the player to somewhere else.”

The children _ooh_’d in amazement, looking at each other.

A Zora waved their hand eagerly before saying, “What about the Goddess Harp, Miss Zelda? Did a Goddess really hold it?”

“Of course. The White Goddess Hylia owned a harp like this one. She gave it to her chosen one to help him on his journey.”

The children all chattered excitedly.

Zelda clapped her hands to get their attention. “Did you all finish the scavenger hunt?”

“You made it too easy, Miss Zelda!” said a Hylian.

A Goron grunted, stomping his feet and beating his chest in agreement.

“Either that or you guys are just super smart,” Zelda laughed. “I’m sure the Gerudo scavenger hunt will be much more of a challenge for you geniuses.”

The children followed after Zelda as she led them to the third floor, past the models of the Divine Beasts and the Guardians from the Era of Calamity and the Era of the Sky.

“Do you guys want to speak to one of my friends?” Zelda asked as she stood next to a casket.

The children all nodded eagerly.

“Chief Urbosa?”

Urbosa flickered into existence beside Zelda, smiling at the children. “Good morning, children.”

The children all gaped at the hologram which stood taller than them at nearly eight foot tall.

“Urbosa, why don’t you show them your home?” Zelda asked, clasping her hands behind her back.

“Certainly.”

The lights dimmed and suddenly the room disappeared, replaced by a vast desert. In the distance stood a town with walls of brown clay.

“That’s Gerudo Town, my home. The year is 750 B.C., Before Calamity. I’m the chief of my people.”

“What’s a chief?” a Zora asked.

“Good question, little voe. A chief is a leader. They make sure their people are fed and protected and happy.”

“What’s a voe?” a Hylian asked.

“It’s a boy, duh,” one of the Gerudo children replied snarkily, putting her hands on her hips.

Urbosa chuckled. “She’s right. In Gerudo, we call a male a voe and a female are vai. All Gerudo are vai.”

“You don’t have any boys?” a Rito gasped. “How come?”

“Do ya kill ‘em?” a Mogma asked eagerly.

“Males are rarities among our kind. During my time, no males were born.”

“Urbosa,” Zelda said, “why don’t know you teach them some Gerudo greetings?”

“Excellent idea. Instead of good morning, we say sav’otta.”

The children all mumbled, trying to repeat the word. The Gerudo were having an easier time.

“Good evening is sav’saaba. Sarqso is thank you and vehvi is child.”

“The Gerudo still say those today,” Zelda said. “The other verbal language has changed between now and Urbosa’s time, but the written language has remained pretty much the same. Thank you, Urbosa.”

“You’re welcome, Zelda,” Urbosa said with a bow before vanishing.

The desert vanished, replaced by the exhibit room.

The Minish hopped from the Gerudo’s shoulder to Zelda’s shoulder. “Miss Zelda, is there a body in there?”

Zelda looked at the casket beside her, marked with faded pictures and Gerudo lettering. She smiled.

“We believe that’s Chief Urbosa’s casket. We found it within some catacombs in the desert.”

“In the Wasteland?” a Rito squawked, feathers fluffing up in fear.

“You went there?” asked a Zora.

“No, I personally didn’t. Sometimes brave archeologists leave the city to find artifacts our ancestors left behind. One such archaeologist found the catacombs and unearthed this casket. Shortly after, the catacombs caved in, preventing anyone from entering again.”

“Why don’t ya just ask some of us Mogma ta dig it out?” a Mogma asked, tail thumping against the ground. “We’re good diggers.”

“We want to respect the Gerudo, not insult or anger their spirits. Many believe the ancestors were angered at the casket being taken out. We had a Gerudo shaman bless this casket and ask forgiveness for the transgressions brought against the spirit resting inside.”

“So you don’t know if it’s Miss Urbosa?” a Hylian asked. “Why don’t you open it to find out?”

Zelda shook her head. “Oh, no, that would bring even more wrath from the spirits and the Gerudo community.”

“Yeah!” a Gerudo said proudly, crossing her arms. “We’re very spitityoual.”

“Spiritual,” Zelda chuckled. “So we haven’t opened it. We assume it’s Chief Urbosa due to the decorations. See this?”

Zelda pointed to a crown at the top of the casket then to the two weapons embedded in the lid.

“And these weapons? Daybreaker and the Scimitar of the Seven were one of a kind weapons made just for Urbosa.”

The children _ooh_’d.

“Want to try the scavenger hunt now?”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time 5 o’clock rolled around and the museum announced it would be closing its doors soon, Zelda was exhausted.

After the first group of school kids, she had two more. That was the most she had in one day.

Sitting on a bench, Zelda took off her heels to rub her aching feet.

The Twili night guards were appearing through Twili warp holes, replacing the day guards. Twili were night owls and couldn't handle being out in the daytime without heavy clothing to protect their sensitive skin.

“Hey,” Sheik greeted as he approached Zelda. “Want to grab something to eat?”

“That sounds good,” Zelda sighed as she put her shoes back on. “But hang on a minute, okay? I want to check on something.”

Sheik raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms. “Check on what?”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frost coated the floor with every step, spreading out beneath their feet, ice crystals were exhaled with every breath.

The Gerudo exhibit was empty, so the stranger’s appearance had gone unnoticed.

They wore a torn brown shirt with a hood thrown up to hide their face and a long piece of cloth around their waist which dragged along the floor and had a Sheikah eye stitched at the top. Glowing blue Sheikah script went horizontally down the front of the shirt and waistcloth. A blue scarf with ripped ends was wrapped around their neck, a red bird at the end, carrying the Triforce. Golden pieces of metal wrapped up their legs and arms, halting beneath their knees and elbows. An unearthly blue glow emitted from their arms and legs.

Halting in front of the crystal, the stranger looked up at it, shadows from the hood shielding their face. The only thing noticeable from the shadows was a single bright blue eye peering out.

Pressing a hand to the crystal, ice forming around the touch, the being exhaled ice crystals again.

_Time to wake up, old friend. You may not understand what is going on right now, but trust the girl. And the Slate. Find the Wastelander. All will be clear, eventually._

They looked behind them when footsteps approached and disappeared in a scattering of blue petals.

Zelda sighed as she approached the crystal, noticing the fingerprints smudging the clear crystal, made from eager, tiny hands.

“Aw, you must not like having all those fingerprints on you, huh?”

The children must have touched the crystal when she wasn’t looking.

“I’m sorry.” Zelda reached up and set her hand against the crystal’s surface.

Shortly after touching the crystal, a flash of bright light emitted from the crystal, forcing Zelda to cover her eyes until the light faded. She blinked to get the stars out of her vision, looking at her right hand to see the symbol of the Triforce slowly disappearing.

“Huh?”

_The Triforce?_

Why was that one her hand?

Zelda looked at the man’s hand inside the crystal and swore she also was the Triforce faintly glowing on his left hand. Then it faded and Zeld looked at her hand to see that the Triforce was gone.

“That was weird…”

A cracking noise caught her attention and Zelda looked at the crystal sharply to see a jagged fissure had suddenly appeared in the center of the crystal. The split widened then spread out like a spider web.

Then the crystal shattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, sorry for any errors xD  
And I didn't write down the year I wanted BotW to be in so I just....guessed? I have info on the other times but screwed up and didn't write down the botw time lol  
Also, nice job Zelda, you broke an exhibit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyyyyy I'm back :)  
Translations are at the bottom of the story if you wanna know what they're saying :3

Zelda stepped back when the crystal shattered.

The pieces hovered in the air for several seconds until the man’s feet touched the floor then they fell, tinkling when they struck the tile.

The man stood still, eyes closed before he looked up and opened his eyes.

_ Gold,  _ Zelda thought as the internal light faded from the man’s eyes as if a surge of power had faded.

Gold was a rare Gerudo eye color and the man’s eyes were such a bright yellow. Etched into the man’s right arm was a dragon winding its way up to the shoulder, claws dug into the skin as its mouth opened, ready to breathe fire.

The red curved horns, pale ivory scales and crimson underbelly reminded Zelda of…something. She had seen the dragon somewhere before. Perhaps in one of her history books.

Lifting his head up, the man slowly gazed around his surroundings before his eyes landed on Zelda. He took a step towards her. “Min ‘ant? ‘Ayn ‘anaa?”

Zelda held up her hands, waving them. “Ah, I’m sorry. I don’t understand you. Nahin Samajho?”

The man took another step forward before his knee caved and he collapsed. There was a snap as the sword broke from the force.

Zelda stood still for several seconds before she cautiously approached the Gerudo. “Are you…still alive?”

The man didn’t respond and Zelda prodded his shoulder. She put her hands in front of his mouth and felt faint breaths on her palm.

“Oh, good. Uh, okay…” Zelda looked around uncertainly then noticed the man was bleeding from the sword wound. “You’re bleeding. Oh, crap.”

Running to the stairs outside the exhibit, Zelda glanced around for Sheik and spotted him leaning against a wall, looking bored.

“Hey, Sheik! I need your help!”

Sheik glanced up at her before he pushed off the wall, heading up the stairs. “What is it?”

Without responding, Zelda grabbed Sheik’s wrist and yanked him into the Gerudo exhibit.

“Hey!”

Zelda pointed to the Gerudo man on the floor. “We need an ambulance.”

Sheik stared at the man, noticing the crystal chunks scattered on the flooring, he didn’t need to be a genius to figure out that the crystal that had contained the man had somehow shattered. He scowled at Zelda. “What did you do?”

“I’ll explain later! Ambulance, now.”

Sheik sighed before he pulled out his Nocturne flip phone, flicking it open to dial 911. If there was one thing quirky about Sheik it was his persistence in using old technology. “You’d better have a good explanation.”

* * *

After an awkward explanation to the ambulance drivers—and a lie—about why the Gerudo man was stabbed with a sword, Zelda watched the EMTs take the man away on a stretcher that barely fit his size.

One of the Hylian EMTs gave a slight bow. “We’ll be at the White Goddess Methodist Hospital.”

“Thank you.” Zelda murmured, returning the bow.

Sheik continued to scowl, arms crossed, as he watched the EMT leave. Once the doors to the museum had closed, he looked at Zelda. “Explanation, now.”

“Okay, okay….well, I just came to check on him and I saw handprints from the kids, so I touched the crystal and it kind of…shattered.”

Sheik raised an eyebrow. “Shattered just form you touching it? Please, Zelda, don’t lie to me. If you accidentally knocked it over then I won’t tell the director.”

“I didn’t knock it over!” Zelda protested. “If I did, you would have heard the noise, right? Did you hear anything? Huh? Did you? Did you?”

As she asked him, Zelda moved closer to Sheik who stepped back in annoyance. He made a face then looked to the side. “No…”

“That’s what I thought,” Zelda said proudly, putting her hands on her hips as she grinned.

“That still doesn’t explain how he’s still, you know, _alive_. It’s impossible.”

Zelda put her chin in her hand as she thought about the explanation.

Sheik was right. Being stabbed then encased in crystal….no mortal could survive that. Then again, no way could the guy be a god or some minor deity.

Zelda’s eyes dropped to her right hand and she gasped at the idea that popped into her head. “The Triforce!”

Sheik gave a long-suffering sigh. “Oh, please, Zelda.”

“I saw it! Before the crystal shattered, the Triforce symbol lit up on my hand and the Gerudo’s hand!”

“The Triforce has been extinct since…forever. Like, 20,000 years ago extinct. You know that.”

Zelda frowned, rubbing her hand. “Well, yeah, but…”

“Fairytales don’t exist, Zelda. It’s the modern times. We have smartphones, cars and guns, not swords, heroes and…” Sheik waved a hand. “Magic.”

Zelda pouted, crossing her arms. “Well, you only say that cause you’re atheist.”

“Agnostic. There’s a difference.”

Zelda just gave him a bland look before putting her hands on her hips. “Have I ever lied to you before, Sheik?”

“No.”

Zelda raised her eyebrows, grinning at the Sheikah hopefully.

Sheik sighed, rubbing his face with a hand. “Okay, so say I’m entertaining the idea that the…Triforce has come back and that’s what protected the Gerudo from dying. There are three pieces: Power, Wisdom and Courage.”

“Well…I think I saw wisdom on my hand…and the guys’ was power…”

“So where’s the third piece…?”

Zelda bit her lip, crossing her arms as her shoulders slumped.

Sheik was right. Where was the third piece? It couldn’t be far, right? But even if the courage piece _had _activated, trying to find one person in the three million that lived in Hyrule City would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Sheik breathed out. “Look, how about I go get us some food and I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

Zelda gasped, perking up from her slump. “So, you believe me?”

“I didn’t say that. But that guy is alive and you somehow woke him so he’s your responsibility. Better go make sure he didn’t die on the way there, right?”

Zelda huffed, smacking Sheik’s arm. “Seriously, you’re awful.”

“I get that a lot. Now, get going.”

Zelda jumped forward to squeeze Sheik in a hug and even though he wasn’t a hugger, Sheik allowed her. “Thanks, Sheik.”

Sheik gave a small grunt as he watched Zelda run off. Once she had disappeared, he knelt down to pick up one of the bigger crystal pieces scattered on the floor. He turned it side to side, the clear gemstone reflecting his eye. “Triforce, huh…?”

* * *

The hospital was less than three miles from the museum. Zelda parked in the visitor spot and trotted into the main lobby.

The deep blue thresher shark Zora nurse glanced up from their paperwork as Zelda approached then grinned at the Hylian, revealing needle teeth. “Who are you here to visit, ma’am?”

“Uh….I don’t know his name. He’s a…Gerudo. Stab wound?”

“Ah, the John Doe? Well….I suppose you can go see him. Room 113.”

Zelda gave a bow. “Thank you.”

The Zora watched Zelda head to the room, grinning until she entered. The smile dropped once she was out of sight, a low growl erupting in the Zora’s throat as their headtail slowly waved side to side, orange eyes narrowed.

Zelda cautiously moved to the man’s side, trying not to wake him. She doubted he would wake easily if they had morphine flowing through him.

The room was quiet except for the steady heart monitor beeping. The nurses had taken off the crown, jewlery and clothes the man wore to replace them with hospital gowns. Only one bracelet remained on his left wrist.

Curious, Zelda looked at the bracelet. It was gold in color and etched with strange markings Zelda didn’t recognize. Zelda tried to pull off the bracelet, but it didn’t budge.

_ It’s like it’s glued on,  _ Zelda thought, releasing the bracelet.

Moving to the chair on the other side of the bed, Zelda stared at the dragon tattoo on the man’s right arm. She spotted the extra pair of legs just below the front ones and wondered if that was a mistake.

“I wonder what dragon that is,” Zelda murmured, pulling out her phone and opening it. “Navi, searched legendary dragons of Hyrule.”

“Searching!” Navi chirped.

While Navi searched, Zelda stared at the man’s face.

He had to be at least twenty. Hi skin was still tan, revealing his time in the desert sun.

Zelda remembered his bare feet and wondered if all Gerudo went barefoot of it he was just peculiar.

Zelda grinned. “All the things I could learn from you….”

“Hey, listen!”

Zelda looked at her phone to see that Navi had finished her search results. “Twelve, huh…”

Zelda flipped through the results, glancing between the pictures and the tattoo before her.

“Eldin…? No…not skinny enough. Volvaiga! No….not enough legs.”

Zelda stopped when she came across Dinraal.

“That’s it. Dinraal….messenger of the Goddess Din….worshipped by the Gerudo…treated as a symbol of strength, perseverance and a stout heart…wow.”

Zelda looked at the tattoo, Dinraal seeming to stare straight at her, mouth still open in a roar.

“Oh, I didn’t realize he had a visitor.”

Zelda jumped up from her seat at the voice, whirling to see a Hylian doctor standing at the threshold to the room.

He looked young to be a doctor, brown hair short and shaved on the sides. His green eyes were kind though and he smiled, head tilting slightly at Zelda’s reaction. “My name is Doctor Rin Carver.”

“Ah, hello. My name is Zelda Nayrin.”

Rin nodded. “Nice to meet you. Are you a friend of his?”

“Ah…” Zelda looked between the man and Rin. “Kind of?”

“I see…” Rin tapped the clipboard he held with a pen. “Well, your friend is quite…remarkable. I’ve never seen his blood type before and his antibodies are most unusual.”

“Will he be all right?”

“Remarkably, yes. That sword miraculously missed vital organs and only scraped a vertebra. It’s amazing he wasn’t dead on impact. What did you say happened again?”

Oh, crap. Zelda hadn’t really thought of a lie for that. She couldn’t really tell the truth since no one would believe her.

“He….he was playing with the sword and he tripped and…fell?”

Rin raised an eyebrow but said nothing else as he scribbled on the clipboard. “Well, your friend can go home in a few days. As long as he takes it easy and the bandages are changed daily.”

Zelda grinned with a nod. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Visiting hours end at 11 p.m.” Rin gave a wave and left the room.

Zelda sighed heavily as she sat back in the chair. “That was too close.”

“Hey,” Sheik said, materializing as if out of thin air.

Zelda jumped at the appearance of her cousin before she sighed, scowling at him. “Can you not do your creepy Sheikah silence?”

Sheik raised an eyebrow then held out a bag of food. “Tacos all right with you?”

Mollified with food, Zelda took the bag. “Anything is fine. I’m starving.”

“How’s jumbo?” Sheik asked as he leaned against the nearby wall with his own taco.

Zelda gave him a look. “Don’t call him that.”

“Well we don’t know his name.”

Sheik was right. They didn’t know what to call the Gerudo.

“Well…” Zelda muttered, unwrapping a taco. “We can ask him when he wakes up.”

“Does he even speak Hylian?”

“No, but I do speak some Gerudo.”

Sheik snorted as he took a bite of his taco. “Oh, that’ll be good.”

Zelda flicked some lettuce at him, getting a smirk in response.

There was a grumble from the bed as the man reached up a hand to rub his eyes. Then he looked at the needles in the back of his hand, mumbling to himself.

Zelda quickly grabbed his other hand when he tried to take the needles out. “No, no. Keep those in.”

He stared at her, head tilted slightly before he grinned as he recognized her. “’Ant alfatat min qabla. ‘ayn ‘ana? Ma kl kdha?”

“I don’t understand you! Slow down. Uh….aap aspataal mein hain. Samajhand?” Zelda heaved a sigh when the man just stared at her blankly. “Yeah, all right. Uh, my name is Zelda. That’s Sheik.”

Sheik raised a hand as he continued to watch the communication barrier.

“What’s your name?”

The man frowned, muttering under his breath.

Zelda wondered if he had amnesia and didn’t know who he was. If that were the case, they’d have to give him a temporary name.

“Ah…” The man perked up a bit. “Gan…on.”

“Ganon, huh?” Zelda repeated. “Huh…Ganon…like the Demon King?”

“Good job, Zelda,” Sheik said. “You woke up a demon.”

Zelda scowled at him. “He doesn’t seem demon-y. He’s lost. See?”

Ganon was staring at the lights in the ceiling, apparently having a staring contest with them.

Sheik rolled his eyes. “You still can’t communicate with him.”

“I just…need to figure out what era Gerudo he’s speaking, all right?”

“Good luck with that.”

Zelda stuck her tongue out at Sheik before taking out her phone. “Okay, how about this.”

Ganon stared at the phone curiously. “Ma hdha? Madha tafel?”

Zelda looked at the phone as it tried to translate.

No search results came up.

“Oh….okay, so it’s a very old language. That’s….more difficult.” Zelda sighed. She was running out of ideas on how to be able to communicate with Ganon.

Ganon sniffed a bit, staring at the bag in Zelda’s lap. He reached out to grab the bag.

“Hey!” Zelda protested. “Those are mine!”

Ganon took out one of the tacos and stared at it before biting into it.

Sheik gave a laugh at the face Ganon made. “You have to unwrap it first, idiot.”

“Stop being mean.” Zelda took the taco and unwrapped it for Ganon. “Here. Try it now.”

Ganon stared at the taco warily before taking another bite. He grinned at the taste, finishing the taco off in several bites before searching the bag for more.

Zelda grinned. “I bet you’re hungry. That was a good taco, huh?”

Ganon made a quiet noise at the back of his throat. “Ta…c?”

“Was that Hylian?” Sheik asked in surprise as Zelda gasped.

“It was! That’s it! I can teach him Hylian. That’s right, that was a taco.”

“Taco…” Ganon mumbled, turning the bag upside down to try and make more appear. “Taco?”

“Go get more, Sheik!” Zelda looked at Sheik in excitement.

“What? No way, I already spent my money getting them.” Sheik crossed his arms as Zelda pouted at him. “No.”

“Boo.”

Ganon watched their interaction before he yawned.

“Time to go,” Sheik said, patting Zelda’s shoulder. “He needs sleep. We’ll visit tomorrow after work.”

Zelda watched Ganon a bit longer as he dozed off before she sighed. “All right. We’ll see you later, Ganon.”

Sheik made sure to take the empty taco bag with him so none of the nurses knew they had brought contraband with them.

* * *

Zelda could barely focus the next day at work, all thoughts locked on Ganon. She hoped he was behaving and keeping the tubes in.

The second her shift ended, Zelda took off to the hospital, ignoring Sheik’s call for her to wait.

The Zora at the front desk once again smiled when they saw her. “Welcome back.”

“Thank you. Can I go see the man in room 113?”

“In about five minutes. Doctor Rin is running some tests.”

Zelda frowned at the statement, concerned. “Tests? Is everything all right?”

“Of course, of course.” The Zora waved a hand. “They’re just typical, making sure no infections have set in and all.”

“Oh. Okay then.” Zelda waited until she saw Doctor Rin leaving the room. She smiled at him as she walked past. “Good afternoon, Doctor.”

“Afternoon,” Rin replied with a returned smile. He watched her enter the room as he approached the Zora. “Why is she back? Does she know it?”

“I don’t know. I was watching the tapes and she can communicate somewhat with it.”

Rin hummed before he held out a vial filled with blood. “Give this to the director. I’m sure he’ll be quite interested in it.”

“Of course, Doctor Yang.”

“Rin. It’s Rin for now.”

The Zora gave a slight bow as Rin walked off.

Ganon perked up when he saw Zelda, grinning. “Zelda.”

“Hello, Ganon. Are you feeling better?” Zelda touched her chest then pointed to the bandages around Ganon’s chest. “Better?”

Ganon touched his chest, looking down at the bandages. He rubbed them then nodded. “Bet….ter.”

Ganon was definitely a fast learner. That made things easier.

Zelda sat in the chair beside the bed. “You’re a Gerudo, right? Gerudo?”

“Gerudo…?” Ganon repeated slowly, frowning. He then nodded. “Gerudo.”

“Do you know what year it is?”

Ganon looked at his hands, obviously thinking about the question. After several minutes, he shook his head.

“Oh.”

So he definitely had amnesia. Zelda wondered how much he did remember.

Ganon looked at Zelda to see her thinking. He tilted his head. “Zelda?”

Zelda straightened at her name. “Ah, sorry. I really want to ask you everything about your culture and how you ended up in that crystal and the sword too…”

Ganon looked at her blankly as she rambled before he knit his brows. “Crys…tal?”

“Ah, never mind. I’m sure your memory will come back. Eventually.”

Ooor never. Zelda hoped for eventually though.

“Taco?” Ganon asked, appearing hopeful.

“Oh. Are you hungry? Well, I don’t have any tacos, but I can find something in the hospital café.” Zelda stood up. “Okay? I’ll be back.”

“Back…” Ganon watched Zelda leave before he saw her phone on the table nearby, perking up at the sight of it.

* * *

After a visit to the café, Zelda came out with a bag of multiple sandwiches, chips and drinks. She was sure Ganon was super hungry and trying different types of food would be good for him.

“So, when are we taking it again?”

“Boss says tomorrow. It has the blood the President is looking for apparently.”

Zelda paused when she heard the voices, glancing around the corner to see two Sheikah at the end of an emergency exit hallway. Curious, she pressed against the wall to eavesdrop.

“What’s the HIO want with that large guy anyway?” one of the Sheikah wondered. “He can’t even speak Hylian.”

“Apparently, he’s special,” the second Sheikah said. “All we gotta do is our jobs. We take him from the room tomorrow under Doctor Rin’s orders and send him to the facility.”

HIO? Zelda wondered. What did the Hyrulean Intelligence Officials want with Ganon? And the President….the President of the city?

“What about the girl who came in contact with the Gerudo?” the first Sheikah asked. “What do we do about her if she comes sniffing around?”

“The HIO will be taking care of her.”

Zelda gave a quiet gasp at that before she ran back towards Ganon’s room.

They had to leave immediately before the HIO came for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ganon is Arabic and Zelda is Hindi.
> 
> Ganon: Who are you? Where am I?  
Zelda: I don't understand?  
\--  
Gan: You're the girl from before. Where am I? What's this?  
Zelda: You're in the hospital. Understand?  
\--  
Gan: What is that? What's it do?
> 
> Also *throws glitter* HERE HAVE SOME PLOT

**Author's Note:**

> I know a lot of you want me to continue I See You but I have run out of ideas for it so until I come up with more ideas to continue the story I will be working on this story and Our Ancestor's Sins.  
And A.C. stands for After Calamity  
I hope you enjoy both :3  
To bloodsexsugarmagick and Satirise, thank you for all your ideas and humoring my ideas on this silly story :)


End file.
